Han Li's face flushed slightly upon hearing this.
"If it's merely a matter of delivering a letter, this junior is willing to agree." Such a trivial task was well within his abilities, so of course he wouldn't refuse.
The young woman seemed quite pleased by his answer and said nothing more. She raised her hand, and the black box, cradled by a wisp of green light, floated steadily toward Han Li.
Han Li reached out and caught the black box. He swept it with his spiritual sense and found it brimming with spiritual energy — it truly seemed to be Spirit Eye Jade.
Given his cautious nature, he naturally wanted to examine it with his own eyes before accepting it.
With a flash of green light on his hand, he gently tapped the lid, and the black box opened on its own.
Inside was a haze of white, and a surge of pure, clear spiritual energy instantly filled the entire stone chamber.
Han Li's heart stirred, and he peered into the box with a frowning gaze.
Within the soft white radiance sat a piece of white jade several inches across, its surface flickering ceaselessly with light.
What truly shocked Han Li was that inside the semi-transparent jade, a tiny green ox no bigger than a thumb was wagging its tail and tossing its head about, moving with startling vitality.
Seeing this, Han Li's face was a picture of astonishment.
"What do you think? My Spirit Eye Jade is a treasure on the verge of birthing a transformed being. Those ordinary Spirit Eye Stones can't hold a candle to it. Cultivate with this, and you'll surely reap twice the results with half the effort." The young woman noticed Han Li's stunned expression, and a peculiar glint flickered through her bright eyes before she lightly chuckled.
"Indeed. With this, I wouldn't need decades of effort. Just over a decade and I could enter the False Nascent stage." Han Li took another long look at the Spirit Eye Jade inside the box, then finally closed the lid again and looked up, his voice calm.
Only now did the realization dawn on him. The Snow Cloud Fox must have been steeped in the spiritual energy of the Spirit Eye Jade, which was why it carried that faint aura of clear spiritual energy. Its ability to evolve into a demon fox was probably connected to this treasure as well.
Han Li's composed demeanor, however, left the young woman momentarily surprised. A hint of surprise passed through her mind, and she studied him with a deeper glance.
"Very well, the treasure has been given to you. Take this jade slip as well. Additionally, behind the stone platform I'm sitting on, there is another jade box. A sealed talisman is affixed to it — peel off that talisman, then hand the jade box to me. Inside the box is a token that also needs to be delivered along with everything else." The young woman raised her hand to casually brush a strand of black hair from her forehead, speaking in a light, seemingly offhand tone.
"This junior is to fetch something for the senior?" Han Li froze for a moment after hearing this, a hint of suspicion appearing on his face. He grew a touch wary.
"Hmph! Are you afraid this old woman will harm you? If I could get it myself, would I be asking for your help?" The young woman's face turned cold, and she let out a displeased snort. Then she raised her hand and abruptly lifted the long skirt draped over her knees.
What entered Han Li's view made his expression change dramatically.
Two legs as thin as sticks, no thicker than an infant's arms, were crossed beneath her in a seated position. Beyond a layer of desiccated skin, there was not a shred of flesh — a ghastly and horrifying sight. But what truly made Han Li's face change was that several shimmering, silver-white chains were wound around these withered limbs. One end pierced straight through the bone, while the other end was buried deep beneath the stone platform.
Han Li licked his lips, then looked up at the young woman. Though his face was full of shock and doubt, he said nothing.
He knew that she would explain on her own.
Sure enough, despite the frost covering her face, the young woman lowered her skirt and spoke in her characteristically dry manner:
"The reason I built this stone chamber out of Azure Gold Stone inside this mountain, and the reason I used these fine chains to bind my own legs, is to keep myself imprisoned."
"Imprison yourself?" Han Li blinked in confusion.
"That's right. The 'Nether Slaughter Art' I practice is no ordinary cultivation technique. Although it can be cultivated with remarkable speed and its power is extraordinary, this technique has a fatal flaw. Once one achieves significant progress in it, the cultivator's mind becomes prone to losing control, and they develop an insatiable thirst for blood. Back then, I had a remarkable encounter that made me believe my willpower and spiritual sense far surpassed those of cultivators at the same level, so I ignored everyone's warnings and took up this technique. In the end, once the art was complete and I entered the Nascent Soul stage, I finally lost all self-control and went on a killing spree. I caused quite an uproar in the cultivation world at the time and made numerous enemies. Eventually, several Nascent Soul cultivators banded together, gravely wounded me, and destroyed one of my arms."